Another Plan

Proverbs 14:12 NIV

There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.

Do You Know What To Do?

Our youngest son recently played in his baseball league’s all-star game and he did well.  He drove in the tying run with a base hit to center and he was brought in to pitch the 7^th inning with the game tied and got the batter to ground out to second with the bases loaded to end the threat.  The bottom of that inning, our first batter grounded out and our second hitter came up with nobody on base.  He hit a drive deep into right field and got all the way around to third base for a triple.  Now the winning run was at third base with only one out and a left handed hitter up to bat.  He was in the ninth slot which meant he was the worst hitter in the line-up.  As I stood behind home plate watching the action, almost immediately a plan came to my mind.  I knew exactly what strategic move the manager should make to try to get the winning run home.  It was not my call though and so I waited to see what the batter would do.  Our team had been killed all year by the team we were playing so it was a monumental moment for them.  What would the manager do?  What was his plan for trying to score the winning run?  Was he thinking like me?

Perhaps you have had a tough time trying to figure out what to do.  It’s not easy sorting through all the options.  Maybe it’s more of a binary decision…this or that.  Here or there.  Yes or no.  The idea that God cares about what you do and has input into your decisions and decision-making is not universally accepted and outright rejected by many.  One of the primary arguments for abortion rights is the position that a woman has a right to do with her body as she wishes.  Without addressing the specious basis of that contention, we must consider the theological issue here.  Is God in the abortion equation?  Does He play a part in the decision-making of what to do?  Now that is a critical question to ask, and not just with regard to abortion but in every area of life!  Is there room for God to have a say in what you do?  It matters what you decide on this.  Either God guides you or He doesn’t and how you land on this can have huge ramifications for you and others.

The Bible certainly has a lot to say about this but let’s look at some particular case studies in Scripture that illustrate the ways others have dealt with this issue.  Rebekah is certainly not a well-known figure in the Bible but she plays an important part in the lineage of the nation of Israel as well as for Jesus Himself.  She seems to have been a young bride who married an older man in a quasi-arranged marriage.  After twenty years of going childless, finally she conceived and it was not a single child but twins in her womb.  She wasn’t sure why she felt so much turmoil in her womb so she went to the Lord to see what was happening in her.  The Lord said to her, "Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger." (Genesis 25:23 NIV)  That of course was surprising news but before we move off this, let us take a closer look at Rebekah’s response to the prophecy.  We don’t know how Rebekah heard what God said to her or why she knew God said it.  Perhaps there was an audible voice or maybe like many of us, somehow the Lord got this message to her in an inaudible but knowable way.  Regardless, the point to be made is that the Lord declared to her the future of her still unborn twins and Rebekah knew it was really God who put it in her brain.

Over the course of the next forty years, Rebekah grew more attached to her younger son Jacob than her older boy Esau.  This happens.  It isn’t shocking to us that parents develop favorites among their kids.  Of course it is sad and in this case it led to great turmoil and pain for the entire family.  Rather than trusting God to do what He said He would do and make the younger stronger than the older in due time, Rebekah decided to rush the process along in her own way.  Believing perhaps she was acting for God, she got her son Jacob to trick her husband Isaac to give the blessing he planned on giving to the older son Esau to Jacob.  Rebekah took advantage of her husband Isaac’s blindness by having Jacob dress up in his brother’s clothes and lie that he was Esau.  Then Rebekah took the best clothes of Esau her older son, which she had in the house, and put them on her younger son Jacob.  She also covered his hands and the smooth part of his neck with the goatskins. Then she handed to her son Jacob the tasty food and the bread she had made.  He went to his father and said, "My father."  "Yes, my son," he answered. "Who is it?"  Jacob said to his father, "I am Esau your firstborn. I have done as you told me. Please sit up and eat some of my game so that you may give me your blessing."  (Genesis 27:15-19 NIV)

Rebekah heard the voice of God.  He spoke to her about both the present and the future and she knew it really was God saying it all after she did give birth to twins like God said she would.  But then something happened that takes place a million times across generations.  Rebekah went off on her own without God.  Perhaps you have done this too.  God spoke to you about something.  It was undeniably Him.  You were certain of it.  But then time passed and you stopped waiting for Christ to lead you.  You trusted your own wits.  You believed in your intuition, your understanding of things.  And then, without you even really knowing it, you were on your own…without God…without Him showing you the way.  It happened with Mary the mother of Jesus.  She knew God told her that Jesus was the Messiah, God in flesh.  It was a great miracle, His conception.  Mary bravely bore the child and raised Him to believe He was the Messiah.  But then something went wrong in Mary.  She watched Jesus as He moved among the crowds, heard what He was saying to them and grew concerned about Him.  The work of Jesus wasn’t going as she thought it would and Jesus wasn’t saying the kinds of things Mary expected.  Mary thought something wasn’t quite right with Jesus; that maybe He was losing His mind and so she decided to take matters into her own hands.  Without consulting God or even knowing what the Father wanted of her, Mary gathered her other sons and brought them to where Jesus was sitting with His disciples, teaching a small crowd in a home.  Then Jesus entered a house, and again a crowd gathered, so that he and his disciples were not even able to eat.  When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, "He is out of his mind." … Then Jesus' mother and brothers arrived. Standing outside, they sent someone in to call him.  (Mark 3:20-21, 31)

What happened with Mary happens over and over in the hearts of people who genuinely love Jesus and want Him to be in charge.  Something doesn’t seem right.  Plans aren’t going as expected.  It is tougher than you thought it would be.  The career isn’t taking off.  Family isn’t what you had hoped.  You aren’t what you envisioned.  It is hard and God is not fixing things.  Or, it could be too easy for you.  You’ve got everything together and you unconsciously don’t need God anymore.  He is just not on the list of things that matter most to you.  We don’t see this in ourselves, the impatience, the eroding faith in God, the nonchalance about His will and direction but it happens.  We slowly stop going to Christ for guidance.  We start figuring things out ourselves and without warning we are on our own, the master of our ship.  What comes of this growing independence, this “self-actualization”?  We are on our own!  We are like all others who have no God to guide them, no Spirit to help them along.

There is something heartwarming about the Israelites as they stood at the edge of the Red Sea with the terrifying Egyptian army and all their chariots and weaponry barreling down upon them.  Logic insisted they surrender.  As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up, and there were the Egyptians, marching after them. They were terrified and cried out to the Lord.  They said to Moses, "Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt?  Didn't we say to you in Egypt, 'Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians'? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!"  (Exodus 14:10-12 NIV)  We mustn’t forget what a frightening sight the parted Red Sea must have been as an escape route the LORD had chosen for them.  It could not have been inviting to see hundreds of feet of water piled up on each side of the path but they took it because the Israelites believed, even if it was just a bit of faith, that God knew the way for them.

Within you, if you have been born again, the Spirit of God lives and He is ready to guide you.  He can show you the right way to go at each moment if you are willing to let Him be in charge.  If though you turn your back to Him or ignore Him or reject Him, the Spirit will be silent and let you go along on your own.  He will give you the opportunity to see just what it is like without God putting your life together.  Rebekah found out  how great her plan was when a few days later she watched her beloved son Jacob walk out the door, never in her lifetime to return.  We need Christ to lead us, to show us the way.  It is the greatest of gifts to have the Lord of the Universe living inside us, ready to open doors for us, give us wisdom that is supernatural and make things work out that couldn’t without Him.